1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a fastening apparatus, and more specifically, to a fastening apparatus for a backlight assembly.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the modern application of liquid crystal display (LCD) devices, the direct type backlight assemblies are typically used in large sized LCDs, which are capable of providing more even light illumination.
Since the lamps are directly disposed under the LCD panel and a diffusing plate for uniforming the light radiated by the lamps is disposed above the lamps by a certain distance, the diffusing plate is highly likely to sag and/or deform if it is not supported well. To prevent the diffusing plate from sagging and/or deforming toward the lamps and the back cover due to its large size, a generic direct type backlight assembly utilizes a plurality of supporters disposed between the back cover and the diffusing plate, in which each of the supporters comprises a spacer pin for sustaining the diffusing plate from sagging and/or deforming and a lamp holder for stabilizing the lamps. There are several types of supporters disclosed according to the prior art. A first type supporter utilizes hooks to snap into the back cover for fixing the supporter on the back cover. FIG. 1 shows an exemplary embodiment of the first type supporter 1. The supporter 1 comprises a spacer pin 12, a base 11, and a hook 13. The spacer pin 12 sustains the diffusing plate and when the hook 13 snaps into the back cover, the base 11 and the hook 13 can tightly fix the supporter 1 on the back cover. A second type supporter 2 utilizes a fixing element 21 (such as a screw or a bolt) or a connecting part for passing through an opening in the back cover 22 for fixing the supporter 2 as shown in FIG. 2. In FIG. 3, a third type supporter 3 has a twin adhesive tape 31 on the bottom of the supporter 3 for adhering the supporter 3 to the back cover 32. In FIG. 4, a fourth type supporter 4 comprises a rotatable pin 41 at the bottom of the supporter 4. When the rotatable pin 41 engages through a hole 42 having a similar shape with the rotatable pin 41 and rotates in a certain angle, the supporter 4 fixes on the back cover. In FIG. 5, a fifth type supporter 5 utilizes simply a hanger 51 that hangs the supporter 5 on the back cover 52 since the backlight assembly, which is part of the LCD device, is generally placed vertically.
However, each type of the supporters aforementioned has its drawback. For the first type supporter 1, the manufacturing of the hook 13 is a challenge since the dimension of the hook 13 is very likely to deviate from its designed dimension during manufacturing. The second type supporter 2, which is fixed on the back cover 22 with an additional fixing element 21, takes more cost and more effort for assembly. Although the twin adhesive 31 can effectively fix the supporter 3 on the back cover 32, the reflective sheet in the backlight assembly that applies the third type supporter 3 is more likely to damage when reinstalling or adjusting the supporter 3. Finally, the fourth type and the fifth type supporters 4,5 are easy for installing but the supporters 4,5 are possible to detach from the back cover on every movement of the backlight assembly.